USVI-On-Line

Has anyone stayed in either of these villas? I am starting to get as "obsessed much" as Obsessedmuch was before she made her trip.
Both seem to have a great view of Rendevous and both seem to be the same layout. Sea Cay seems to be higher up on the hill and I am told it is located on the main road to Fish Bay where as Oleander is near or on Klein Bay Road.
Have never seen a review of Sea Cay but I know folks used to talk about it on the old board.
Can you help me choose between the two??

I've stayed at Sea Cay. The only real negative thing that I can recall is that you could not access the the kitchen/dining/livingroom from the bedrooms and one of the bedrooms was actually located on the upper level of the main living area. I can say that the view from the upper bedroom was fabulous. There was a pool, nothing very large or spectacular but certainly sufficient. It was certainly clean and comfortable but for whatever reason not really one of my favorites. I tried to find Oleander just to try and make a comparison, but couldn't find it? Through what rental company is it listed and I'll take a peak? As I recall, someone else on the forum has also stayed at Sea Cay so another opinion may be forthcoming. If you have any specific questions, let me know. Hope this helps. Ali~

Hi there. Stayed at Sea Cay Dec 2005. Great views and convient. Drive way took a little getting used to. Nice pool. A/c in bedrooms was great. Good value imho....God bless..Bill

I found a previous review I gave and yet a review from another forum member in the search function:

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?p=9481

I stayed at Sea Cay in Oct/Nov of last year and at Oleander's twin - Orchid Villa in October of 2004. Oleander and Orchid Villa are right next to each other and share the same floor plan. It's a toss-up as to which I enjoyed the most. They were both comfortable, with similar amenities and had nearly the same view. You won't go wrong with either one.

Oleander is with Caribbean Villas, It has a sister property called Orchid. It is located closer to the water near Monte Bay, Carnival Beach House ect.( so THEY say) The pool seems a little larger, the villa a little older and the view of Rendevous a little closer.
We are traveling with 5 people, two of them are kids and want something casual, with a fun(safe) pool and a view of in your face blue water.

We stayed at Orchid (in 2003) which shares the same floor plan and is right next to Oleander. The great room is small if that means anything to you. There were just two of us when we were there so that wasn’t really an issue but for 5 people, it might be a bit crowded, I would say. Sea Cay’s great room seems larger and more comfortable for 5.
Oleander and Sea Cay are about a one minute drive (or less) apart.

Hi Knolmom, seems we are both back on the hunt! I too am looking at Sea Cay. I rented from Seaview homes this June. We wanted Sea Cay but it was not available so we rented Sea View. The Seaview homes people are very nice. Just FYI their welcome basket consists of 1 bag of chips and 1 jar of salsa. I think they brought some warm bottled water as well. Everything in the villa was in working order and the place was clean. The furniture was a little beat up but I was fine with it and Im picky as h*ll. Not having central A/c was a little bit painful, but we got used to it. The bedrooms were very comfortable but who wants to sit in yur bedroom! Good luck on the search, Im right there with you.

We stayed at Orchid Villa last December. We are a family of 5, but the kids are adults...17,19,21 at the time. The great room was quite small for all of us at once, and the furniture wasn't very comfortable, but the rest of the place was more than fine. We used the outdoor space, with its incredible views, more than the indoor space. Safe pool? I don't know what you mean by that. It's pretty small, more of a plunge pool, but there is no rail or gate and the tiles around the pool can be slippery when wet. Also, there are 2 bedrooms in the separate pod, and 2 twin beds in the loft above the great room. Don't know how that will work for your family.

I checked out Oleander and I think I like Sea Cay a little better. There are so many to choose from, so I'm wondering why you narrowed it down to these 2? If it's about the pricing, I'd like to recommend villa Oceanport through Destination St. John. I just stayed there in May and preferred it to Sea Cay and it's in the same price range. Below is a recent review I gave someone on Oceanport and here's the link. (I'm sure any water issues at this point have been take care of.):
http://www.destinationstjohn.com/oceanport.htm
"Hi. Here's our take on Oceanport. We thought it was a great villa. I had no complaints. My husband and our friends thought there were some minor things in the house that were a little "tired" but overall we all thought it was great. One day during our week we noticed some water on the floor and couldn't figure out where it had come from. I later learned through a forum pm that the folks that stayed there the week prior to ours had to actually move out due to flooding. I think that's about the only negative that I can think of. There was some construction going on close by, but no noise problem. It overlooks the ocean so the views were great, the breeze was great and the villa worked out well for 2 couples. There is even a cute little apartment on the bottom floor. There's a very loooooong stairway down to the ocean. In the late afternoon we were able to see quite a few rays from the deck. We go to the beaches everyday so for us a pool was not a necessity, as I know it is for some of the forum folks. It's also a great area to be in if you like to walk or run in the early morning. There's a washer & dryer and plenty of towels. I'd definitely stay there again, though I do like trying different villas. Ali~"

If you stay at Sea Cay,you might get a free dinner from Rich at Lime Inn,but I wouln't count on it.We stayed at Leeward Villa next door to Sea Cay several years running and the view is great for the south shore.Since they paved the road years ago the trip from town is pretty easy.It has always been a great value for the island.It us higher up than Oleander by probably 100 feet.If you stay at Sea Cay you can look down on OLeander and also walk down to Klein Beach and snorkel over to Ditliff which is now mostly rock instaed of sand but the coral is really coming back in Rendezvous bay.

Thanks so much for the info on Oleander. The small indoor space would work fine for us, as we are outdoor folks too. If we were forced inside by rain, the kids could watch TV and we could retreat to the covered dining area.
We are looking for a simple villa with a dynamic view. Dont need the bells and whistles for this trip, but would like to know that there is enough outdoor space for DH and I to sit in relative peace away from the kids every now and then if we need to. Guess we could go to the balcony of our bedroom if need be.
I was down in that area more than a few years ago and thought the villas would have a magnificent view. We love to sit out at sunrise and after sundown and just look at the peacful water.
My idea of a safe pool is one where we could see the kids from many areas without actually having to be in the pool with them. The pool seems to be a little small for everyone to be in there at one time. Do you recall if it was all one depth or was there a shallow area at one end? Do you recall if the deck was in the shade in the late afternoon, as I expect it will be pretty hot there in August?

Well, the view is spectacular..better than the pictures on the Caribbean Villa website. At Orchid there were 4 reclining lounge chairs looking out on the amazing view, a nicely weathered dining table with 6 chairs and a glass topped table with 6 chairs in the covered area off the dining room where the grill is. There's PLENTY of outdoor space. And that is in addition to the balconies off each of the bedrooms in the separate pod. As to the pool, I think (have to ask my kids) that there was a shallower end, but I can't remember. I can't remember about the afternoon shade either. I don't think there was much shade..period, except under the covered part of the deck and on the balconies. We came back every afternoon for a swim and snacks & drinks on the deck before changing to go out for dinner and I do remember it was very comfortable. It did get VERY hot in the loft bedroom. There are only ceiling fans in the main building, and air conditioners in the 2 larger bedrooms. In December that was fine..don't know about August. But if you're going for a killer view, this is it!

I'd like to recommend villa Oceanport

Oceanport does not have a pool! Only a hot tub. The previous poster suggested this villa, but I know Knolmom is looking for a villa with a pool...I dont mean to be rude but just thought I would point that out.

Thanks for the info on Oceanport but we do need a pool. I just want to warn everyone who is renting villas in that area in the next month or so, such as Dolfin and others that they are constructing a house as you mentioned and Caribbean Villas was forthcoming about the fact that the construction is at a pretty noisy stage right now( we are leaving a month from today) and that they do not recommend this area just right now. It must be really distracting for the folks in Maine to point that out, as the villa agencies usually tell you that "there is construction everywhere on St John". As soon as I mentioned Dolfin they cautioned me right away.

We usually rent on the north shore. We are looking at the only house that is available up there within our price range and it has an infinity pool that my sister is a little concerned about. We(DH and I) have stayed at many houses with infinity pools and we have few concerns, but want to make my sister comfortable.

Second to the Catherineberg area, we favor Rendevous. We have stayed high up at Vistaero, which we would do again in a heartbeat, but Marcia swooped down on that one long before we decided on this trip. So we figure if we cant have the highest spot we will go to ground, so to speak, at Oleander, which is available.
Or at Sea Cay, which also works for us.
We have a group trip planed for November to Sol Inclination,through Island Getaways, and from what we can see we will have all the bells and whistles there--we would just like to have some money left to make the final payment.